4 Books That Are Too Wholesome And Relatable To Pass Up

This list is as wholesome as it gets.

Have you ever read a book so wholesome and relatable that you felt like it changed the way you see the world? That is exactly the type of books that are on this list. These books don't have to be read all in one sitting, though. They're best enjoyed like a fine wine, in small sips... or in this case, pages.

They're great for summer, when you might be busy with a summer job, or during the school year, when you're bogged down with homework and can't find the time to read. Check out these amazing books!

If you follow the Humans of New York blog or social media pages, you already know what this book is about. Humans of New York is a photography project by Brandon Stanton, where he takes a photograph of a person and briefly interviews them. The interview and the photograph are put together, and give you a deeper look into the life of someone you may have just passed on the street. It's really sweet and reminds you that we're all humans with stories and dreams.

This book is so aesthetically pleasing, and is filled with great advice. Full of gentle, flowing illustrations and calming text, this book is a great to pick up when you feel overwhelmed or stressed. It's one of those books you really need to experience for yourself, so pick up your copy.

This book is full of things that are... awesome! It's all about the little things, like finding money in your pocket, taking your shoes off after a long day, only getting green lights while driving down the road, and more. It doesn't seem like much, but it reminds you of all the good little things in life that you might overlook. It's also perfect for cheering yourself up when you're feeling down. Simply open up to a random page, read about something totally awesome, and maybe you'll start feeling good again.

If you like short and sweet, but totally relatable poetry, this is the book for you. It's about the struggles of life, but also about overcoming them. It's powerful and uplifting, and just the type of book everyone needs in their life. The format of the poetry helps it hit even harder. You won't be able to escape unchanged. You could read it all at once, page by page, or section by section. Whichever way you choose, you just need to read it.

5 Classic Games That Totally Ruin Relationships

Lives ruined by classic, wholesome entertainment.

Board games are a great, classic staple of fun and entertainment around family and friends. Sitting around, playing a game while chatting about whatever and munching on snacks and drinks, it all seems like great fun.

But underneath all that seemingly timeless, good-hearted fun is a figurative pit of despair. It's the poisonous fruit that gets all involved riled up. The simple misstep in a board game can cause arguments, fights and ruin relationships. I may seem dramatic here, but these games do fire people up -- and I don't mean little kids exclusively, I mean even among grown friends.

So, what's so bad about Monopoly? Well, for starters, it takes hours upon hours to play. If you're going to be truly dedicated to playing the full version of this game with no shortcuts, you better have a whole day planned for playing this game and ruining all of your potential relationships. Where can arguments come into play? Oh let's count the ways -- whom the banker is, anything potentially deceiving the banker does, if any house rules (i.e. Free Parking space, auction off unsold properties, etc.), any alliances formed, an unfair trade.

Do I need to keep going?

Sorry!An underrated classic, and while it's not as bad at ruining friendships like Monopoly, it still does heavy damage. Also, keep in mind I'm talking about the classic version of the game, not the "simplified" version that came with the 2013 changes. Be a man.

For those who never played the game before, you don't have a die to move around the board. Instead, you have these cards that tell you the number of spaces to move. And in some cases, these cards have special instructions. For instance, when you draw a 10, you can move one of your pawns 10 spaces forward or move them one space back. You also have the signature "Sorry!" card, which allows you to bump any player's pawn and send it back to that player's start base.

So what could go wrong here? Well, being the victim of the person who draws the "Sorry!" card can get you salty. If you keep drawing low-numbered cards when you're so close to winning, that can get you annoyed. Also, you have to draw a one or two to bring a pawn out, so when you have no one out there and keep drawing cards not one or two, that can get you mad because you're time is being wasted.

And of course, when a pawn gets bumped, the player who negated the process of another can say "Sorry!" But let's face it, this game is the pure definition of #sorrynotsorry.

TroubleThis game is VERY similar to Sorry! In fact, it's the same concept, just with a pop-up die instead of cards, and you only move from your start base once you land on a 6.

What arguments can happen here? Well, maybe "You didn't push the pop-up bubble hard enough" and an implied cheating based on trying to land on a certain number.

Also, if someone lands on a space with another's pawn already on it, the pawn that occupied that space goes back to start -- just like Sorry! Hooray for more salty feelings.

RiskThis game I'll admit is the one I have least experience with. I never remember playing much Risk, if any at all, as a kid. I don't even remember learning about the objective of the game, and the rules, till maybe late in high school or early in undergrad.

Risk, however, is similar to Monopoly in that you have to entirely eliminate your opposition to win. And what arguments could you hear from this game? My best guesses are "I wanted (country/region)!" followed by alliances and betrayals (so lifelike to real war, huh?) and the fear that strikes into other player's minds when someone gets an insane amount of units and goes on to conquer most of, if not all of, the board en route to victory.

UNOThis one isn't a board game -- it's a card game -- but the saltiness in players reigns through in this game. The first to get rid of all their cards wins, so it's already annoying enough when you have to keep picking up cards because you have nothing that matches the number of color of the last card put down.

When you seem to keep getting skips, draw twos, and wild draw fours against you, it can really boil over tempers. And then, there's the worst part, which I know some of you who are reading must have had to endure: you're about to win, down to your last card, but someone points out you never said "Uno!" and calls you out on it. You have to draw 2 more cards and it costs you the game. You probably didn't send that person a Christmas card did you?

Or worse, you played Uno Attack, and the machine spat out a bunch of cards at you, hindering your progress, and the rest of the crew laughed at you.

Puppies Who Just Get It

Pawsitively perfect.

Puppies may be one of the greatest gifts we've been given. Even our college campuses know this as a fact, because puppy play dates are often supplied as a free stress reliever during finals. Are you sad? Pet a pup. Are you mad? Pet a pup. Are you happy? Pet a pup, anyway! Puppies are basically just like little humans and emote in similar ways as us:

Four Biographies Every 20-Something Must Read

Yes, you must read books.

As a 20-something year old millennial, you probably need guidance. What? You don't need guidance? You've already got life set up? Well good for you! Some of us still don't know how to operate a washing machine or screw in a light bulb so we very much need every bit of help we can get.

These are some of the most inspirational autobiographies out there. They won't teach you how to fix broken lights, but they sure as hell will point you in the right direction in this funny old game we call life.

This was the first book that got me into reading autobiographies. Nelson Mandela was locked up for 27 years for standing up to civil rights abuses during apartheid in South Africa. He was finally released from prison in 1990, lead the push to have apartheid abolished by 1994 and became the country's first black president in May of the same year. Mandela's most endearing trait was his desire for peace and unification after the end of apartheid, rather than retribution and revenge.

On Oct. 2 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Islamic Extremists all because she wanted to continue going to school against their will. This book takes us on the whirlwind journey of the teen from living in Swat Valley, Pakistan to winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. If Malala can risk getting killed by the Taliban to go to school, you can wake up at 8 a.m. and go to class, hangover or no hangover.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a Swedish international soccer player who has played for some of the biggest teams in Europe, winning a crazy amount of trophies. Zlatan had a childhood unlike most others. Dealing with a drunk father, fighting with other kids and stealing the bikes of his coaches were some of the things Zlatan had to go through in to get where he is now.

As he progressed up the sporting ladder, his behavior came under scrutiny and was attempted to be influenced by various coaches, managers and teammates. Throughout all this, there is one message that pervades: Listen, but don't listen. The book preaches a mantra of not conforming to societal norms and to listen to what people say, but don't let it affect who you are as an individual.

Maya Angelou's story is a remarkable one, overcoming sexual abuse at a young age, deep-seated racism in the South of the 1930s and a sense of inadequacy in comparison to girls of her age.

Angelou triumphs over her childhood troubles by gaining a new sense of self-worth after having a baby at the age of 16, as well as becoming the first African-American streetcar conductor ever. If you have problems accepting yourself for who you are, or are dealing with confidence issues, this one's for you.

Confessions of a Crazy College Chick Part 2

Ups(ide) and Downs of Mental Illness

Of all the people I've had to break the news to that my personality is so terrible it's classified as a mental disorder, nobody has really handled it too well.

When I was diagnosed a year and a half ago, most of my friends at the time took that as an opportunity to never talk to me again unless absolutely forced to in public situations. My family had no idea how to handle it, understandably. Nobody really knows how to deal with it. They don't write manuals on this kind of stuff (just kidding, they do, but the manuals suck and nobody reads them).

I have noticed one thing, though: a sign of whether someone is gonna stick around is if they ask me what it's like to be bipolar. This seems so simple and trivial, yet it is the one common reaction of every loyal friend I've ever told. TThe people who ask questions instead of just staring at me uncomfortably are the people that want to understand-and are those who have always been there and will hopefully continue to be there.

But what do I say to that? Where to even begin? Trying to sum up everything that is wrong with me in a few sentences is like trying to study without Adderall: not a pleasant sight and definitely not something I want to do. I've never really known exactly how to answer that question. Until today.

Today is my 19th birthday. Yesterday I went to bed excited to wear a new outfit, to open presents, and to spend a fun day with friends. Today I woke up pretty bummed out. I was hit with an unexpected wave of grief because I missed my mom. I thought about how I'd never be able to call her on my birthday. She passed away almost four years ago, and every holiday is just a little bit sad ever since.

But where most people could simply acknowledge the fact that it is sad and move on, I cannot. I process emotions a little differently. Here's a metaphor to explain: a "wave of grief" to you might mean a little tide washes over your toes. A wave of the same amount of grief to me would mean getting knocked down by a tsunami and swallowed up into the ocean.

So, I cried, but because I was determined to have a good day, I wiped away my tears and blasted my music. I got ready for class, and danced around the house instead of wallowing in self-pity. I sang Justin Bieber with my roommate and we laughed at my terrible singing voice.

Then I got a call from one of my mom's friends. We talked for a long time. It reminded me of the phone call I so badly wanted from my mom that when we hung up, I started crying again. But it wasn't the type of crying I had done earlier; it was more of a happy and reminiscent cry. A moment of sweet remembrance. I thought about how lucky I am to have people looking out for me, just like my mom did.

As I was getting into round two of the water works, I went to the bathroom to finish getting ready and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I couldn't help but laugh at myself and how quintessentially bipolar I was acting. In a matter of less than an hour I had cried, laughed, danced, cried again, then laughed because of the crying.

You might be thinking about those friends I mentioned earlier that disappeared the second I uttered the word "bipolar" to them, and how you can't blame them after hearing what a typical morning entails for me. Or maybe you think I'm just human and what I just described isn't even that bipolar of me. I would say that both of you are kinda right. I mean, compared to the psychosis, mania, paranoia, delusions, anxiety, severe mood swings, and depression I've experienced in my life, today I am pretty damn stable.

What I will say to you 2 percenters is that after I got done laughing (after crying after laughing after crying), I finished getting ready, took my happy (but not too happy) pills, grabbed my backpack, and went off to class. I went back to my normal 19-year-old life.

On my way to class, I thought about the friends who had asked what it was like to be bipolar. I thought about how from here on out I would tell this story to anyone who wants to know what it's like to be have bipolar disorder. I thought about the doctor who told me that I would never have a normal life again, who said that college would probably not be possible.

I thought about how the reason I cried in the first place earlier that day was because this is the first birthday of mine since my mom passed where I can honestly say that she would be proud of me.

I thought about those friends that didn't stick around, and how much they were missing out on, and how lucky I am to have other people in my life that will always be just a phone call away.

I thought about all the numb people out there. Those who don't have highs or lows, who don't cry or laugh, who have been shut out to feeling the wide spectrum of emotions that I have the ability to feel. I decided that I would rather feel too much than not at all. I had just had my heart broken with the pain of losing the one I loved most, laughed until my stomach hurt with my best friend in the entire world, and cried after feeling the comforting presence of my mother, all before breakfast. Maybe my ability to feel everything so deeply is a sort of superpower that allows me to appreciate the good, learn from the bad, and connect with others along the way.

So if you're part of that 2.6 percent of the population that is like me, here is some living proof that you can have a normal life with bipolar disorder, something we're not told is possible nearly enough. What I would've done to have heard a story like this one during some of my darkest hours.

If you've never been diagnosed with a mental illness, you probably are ready for this whack-job to wrap up the blog post. But this story is just as important for you as it is for those struggling. Because statistically speaking, the chances of someone you know telling you they have a mental illness are astounding. And while you might be afraid, or judgemental, or not quite able to understand exactly, don't stop asking what it's like. Don't stop trying to understand.

Unconventional Success Books All College Students Should Read

Because we should all be well-read adults.

I'm a huge reader.

Like... Class A Bookworm. Something that I've been getting into lately are those books that focus on motivating you to be successful in life and in your career.

They all start to become a bit cliche after a while, however, they encourage you to unlock your true potential, and teach you that through positive thinking, decluttering your mind and your life, YOU can be successful!

It's like the "adulting" version of Dora the Explorer awkwardly speaking to you on the television screen.

So, I did a little digging and found a few of these kinds of books that approach the motivational genre a bit differently. If you're used to (and tired of) the whole "find your inner spirit animal of success" spiel, maybe a bit of unconventional motivation is all you need.

1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark MansonThe subtitle to this book is "a counterintuitive approach to living a good life." Manson knocks down the common concept of finding positivity in everything and opts for teaching a more realistic view that makes us happier and better people.

4. Your One Wordby Evan CarmichaelThis book asserts that there is literally ONE WORD that defines absolutely everything you are, everything you do and everything you have the potential to do. Finding that word is the key to your success.

You just need to find it. Good luck. I reviewed this one not too long ago and would recommend it.

This short list should get you started, because odds are you don't want to read long, boring lists anyway. These books should give you a refreshingly unique way to motivate yourself and make real changes in your life... while also keeping you entertained and intrigued.

And yes, you can legit tell everyone that you're a reader now. Look at you.